Why Are You Being So Nice to Me?
by 2trip
Summary: The True Pacifist Undertale Story. Features Frisk and all other Pacifist characters, with most of their dialogue intact. Some (IMHO) unique twists on some characters' personalities. DISCONTINUED
1. The Fall of Frisk

Frisk wakes up sore and dirtied. Vaguely, she remembers hiking a little mountain, and recalls the name Mt. Ebott. She remembers snagging her foot on a root or rock, then falling. A sharp blow to the head, a fall into darkness. For that matter, it's still dark. She blinks, trying to clear the darkness from her eyes, and eventually gives up. Deciding to wait for a little while, she lies back into what feels like a bed of flowers, eventually drifting to sleep. She wakes up to a feeling of warm sunlight on her face, and opens her eyes to look at her surroundings. Still dark. She blinks, then blinks again. Still nothing. Suddenly, she feels an instinct come over her, flaring in her chest all the way to her limbs. Moving with it, she stands and walks forward, turns right, and then feels a rush of air as she passes through what feels like a doorway of some kind. Reaching out to touch it, she feels a carved, weathered stone pillar, shot through with vines. She keeps moving forward, into the next room. Abruptly, she's startled as a high-pitched, almost boyish voice calls out; "Howdy!"

She waits for it to continue. "I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower. Hmm… You're new to the Underground, arent'cha? Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here. I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!"

There's a shift, and suddenly Frisk can see again. She seems to be in a dark room, the only walls to be seen made of a strange, green-glowing wire, across from a yellow-white flower…with a face. She absently thinks to herself; _Flowers aren't supposed to have faces, are they?_

Her reverie is interrupted by some more words from the high-pitched flower. _Flowey, he said his name was. Okay, then, he (She? It?) seems nice enough. Maybe he can explain what's happened to me._

"See that heart? That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being! Your soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV"

Frisk look down, and sees a glowing red heart where her body should be. With strange calm, she wonders what he means by "LV."

"What's LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course," he says still smiling cheerfully. Frisk is still confused, as he continues. "You want some LOVE, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with you!"

The way he says that last part makes her a bit nervous, but she stands her ground.

"Down here, LOVE is shared through little white 'friendliness pellets,'" he says happily, and a semicircle of spinning white discs appear behind him. He keeps grinning as he continues. "Are you ready? Catch as many of them as you can!"

With lightning speed, the pellets start shooting towards the red heart in Frisk's chest. Not trusting the flower, she tries to dodge, but doesn't respond fast enough. Three discs connect with her, and she's wracked with pain as she feels her skin being sliced by the spinning blades. Apparently, this zone is some sort of mental construct, not actually real.

"You idiot," the flower says, his friendly smile replaced by a devilish grin that seems too big for his face. "In this world, it's kill or BE killed. Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this!?"

His grin disappears, his pupils shrink to pinpoints, and his face morphs into a skeletal nightmare as he summons more pellets…no, blades, in a swirling vortex around Frisk's near-shattered SOUL.

"DIE."

The circle of bullets slowly contracts, and Frisk can do nothing but sit and wait for her apparently inevitable doom as the flower cackles maniacally. Without warning, however, the white blades disappear into nothingness, and a quizzical expression appears on Flowey's face, and he begins to speak. "Wha— "

His incredulous query is cut short by a fireball, which blasts him out of Frisk's line of sight, before a tall, furred, goat-like humanoid with small horns strides quickly into view.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor innocent youth…" she says with pity. Seeing Frisk's soul trembling with fear, she quickly reassures her. "Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down."

Frisk wonders for a moment. _Why would she_ do _that? I must be the first person in ages to fall there._

This thought is confirmed a moment later by Toriel. "You are the first human to come here in a long time," she says. "Come! I will guide you through the catacombs." Toriel disappears, along with Frisk's soul and the rest of the black room.

"This way," she hears Toriel say. _After that flower attacked me, how can I be sure she's not going to either? She did save me, but…_ As she hears Toriel walking out of the room, she feels that burning instinct pushing her to follow, so she goes. Somehow, she can sense the way the room looks from above, as though she's looking at herself from outside. Pausing for a moment, she turns her newfound power upward, and feels a flare of that instinct in her chest as she senses the vastness of the ruins. She feels an odd sense of being centered. Afterwards, her wounds heal immediately, which is a pleasant surprise.

As she follows Toriel inside the vast building, she hears her footsteps stop and pauses to listen. "Welcome to your new home, innocent one. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins." Immediately on her guard from the last "lesson" she'd had in this new world, Frisk stiffens. However, she senses the goat-monster moving away, and hears four clicks in rapid succession, followed by a scraping sound. "The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them." _Ha,_ Frisk thinks. _No need to adjust, since I can't even see them to begin with_.

Apparently finished, Toriel waits for Frisk to respond. After some consideration, Frisk decides to simply start walking. Toriel moves into the next room, and then speaks, explaining a little exercise apparently intended to teach Frisk how to work the puzzles in the Ruins. She completes it easily, despite being unable to see the marked switches with her eyes. Continuing to yet another room, Toriel explains the fact that humans in the underground may be attacked, but urges you not to hurt them. _How does she expect me to survive down here without fighting?_ Frisk stalls a bit, then does as Toriel asks, engaging the dummy in a one-sided conversation. As she does so, she finds herself in the same green-bounded room as before, and sees a lopsided and patched dummy. Though it's not much for conversation, Toriel seems happy, complimenting you joyfully.

She claims there is another puzzle in the next room, but as Frisk moves through it, she senses none, even with her special power. As you approach the door, Frisk finds herself in the darkroom again, now facing a small, unusual frog. Deciding it can't hurt her too much, Frisk chooses to compliment it. It seems flattered as much as a frog can be, then quails under Toriel's stern glare as she comes into view. The darkroom then disappears, and Frisk continues following her through the room, sensing a number of spiked platforms ahead. Toriel stops just ahead of them for a moment, then seems to change her mind about something. She carefully guides Frisk through the spikes, and then speaks. "Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now," she declares, almost to herself, then briskly walks into the next room.

In the next room, she seems quiet, then speaks, asking Frisk to walk to the end of the room by herself, then runs down the hall. _What was that all about?_ Frisk wonders as she strolls down the hall, using her power to see where the path is, then notices a pillar at the end of the hall. _She's behind there, isn't she,_ Frisk thinks, and is gratified to see her guess was correct, as Toriel pops out from behind the pillar and reassures her that she was not left behind. She then gives Frisk a cell phone and tells her to stay there, before leaving quickly.

Frisk stand there, mildly shocked and a bit irritated. _Really. I'm bored. Why would she leave me here by myself? There's nothing for me to do, and there aren't even any monsters to talk to. On second thought, though, I'm glad that flower's not here. He was kinda scary._

As she started to grow tired, she decided to lean up against the pillar and take a nap, but was awakened a moment later by her phone ringing. "Hello? My errands are taking longer than I thought they would. Please wait 5 more minutes." Curling up against the pillar, Frisk dozed off and waited for Toriel's return.


	2. Home, Sort Of

_Hello, to those of you who've happened across my little story. I'm hoping to post 2 chapters a week, at around 1000-1500 words per chapter. Feel free to leave reviews and/or point out grammatical, spelling, or plot errors... Now, on with the story!_

After about thirty minutes of Toriel's phone calls interrupting Frisk's nap every 30 minutes, with no sign of returning anytime soon, the bored (and slightly concerned) child decides to try navigating the rest of the Ruins herself. Using her still-fresh spirit's vague and unclear sense of the world, she slowly walks through the doorway in front of the pillar, taking note of the presence of what Frisk had nicknamed a Froggit crouching near another door to her left. A brief, almost too-coincidental call arrives from Toriel, asking if Frisk had left the room she was left in. Frisk is silent, but her light breathing is apparently all the response needed to reassure Toriel she is alright. With a quick warning about the dangers that lay ahead, Toriel hangs up, again leaving Frisk to her own devices.

Deciding to explore a bit, Frisk opted to head through the door to her left, instead of down the obvious hallway to her right. Coming upon a pedestal, she feels the top of it, surprised by the presence of a bowl on the top. On the front is a plaque, which she somehow manages to read by her fingertips "Please take one," or something to that effect. Reaching into the bowl, she finds a small handful of what feel like small hard candies. She unwraps one and tastes it. Indeed, it's a sweet, almost minty flavor with a curiously invigorating energy to it. She re-wraps it and stuck it in her pocket. She wants more, but doesn't want to be inconsiderate to others who might come later.

Nothing else seems to be in the room, so she carefully makes her way out of the room and heads straight down the hallway. Through the only exit, she walks straight ahead, feeling an unusual gap in the wall, and sensing another farther along. There's a crackling sound, and the floor beneath her feet gives way, dropping her into a pile of dry leaves. Approaching the rightmost of the two exits from the room, she's suddenly back in the room above. Some sort of magic, it seems. Moving on, she enters the next room. Nearly tripping over a rock, she detects a pressure plate of some kind. _Really. Well, easy puzzles are better than hard ones, I guess,_ she thinks, pushing the rock onto the plate. She hears the now-familiar sound of spikes retracting, and cautiously makes her way across the previously impassable bridge in the middle of the room.

Continuing on into yet _another_ room, she feels the floor crackle, and steps back before it falls. Feeling around, she notices another of the odd slots in the wall. Carefully dropping down into the lower room, she notes an odd pattern in the fallen leaves. Assuming that the thick piles only exist because of the way the puzzle up above drops them down, she memorizes the pattern and returns to the upper room, not even pausing to decipher a plaque on one wall. Tentatively making her way along the solid path zigzagging through the old building, she moves into the next room. _More puzzles…_

She moves into the room, finding three stones and pressure plates. She pushes the first two, but is surprised to hear the third talking back…but only for a moment. She politely asks it to move, and it shifts an inch to one side. She finds after several tries that she needs to be very, very specific or it won't understand. Finally getting it to hold still on the pressure plate, she continues into a hallway with a table and some cheese across from a mouse-hole. Again, she feels her fiery soul flare with… _what's the word for that…oh, right!_

Filled with determination, she continues, weariness washed away and confidence intact. She walks boldly forward, then nearly trips over a…ghost? It's actually almost incorporeal, like a solid fog. Deciding to push through it, the darkroom suddenly appears around her, and she can see it clearly. It's a pale white, like practically every other monster in this place. Its only defining features are its tear-filled eyes and mournful mouth. It seems almost ready to cry. She gives it a patient smile, and it looks just a little bit better, though some tears escape and fall toward her. She dodges quickly for someone so small, and then tells a little joke. It doesn't seem to be up for laughing right now, but it again looks a little bit better. It seems to make a decision, as its tears flow up and make a little ghostly hat on its head.

" Do you like it?" it asks hesitantly, and awaits Frisk's response. Frisk grins broadly, clapping her hands in applause.

" Oh, gee," it says as the darkroom disappears. "I usually come to the Ruins because there's nobody around…but today I met somebody nice…oh, I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way," it murmurs, fading slowly into transparency and floating away. As Frisk continues on her way, she runs into a dead end. Finding herself again able to read the sign without having to see it, she learns about a spider bake sale. Deciding to be charitable, she buys a donut. Continuing through the next few rooms and their simple puzzles, she eventually makes her way to an open space with a large tree in the middle. Toriel walks around it, and, seeing Frisk standing there, rushes over in concern. Apologizing for trying to make Frisk a surprise, Toriel bandages the bumps and scrapes she picked up talking to monsters, then leads her inside.

"Do you smell that?" she asks. "Surprise! It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie"

Frisk recalls an odd call Toriel made earlier. _Oh. So that's what that was about_

" I thought we might celebrate your arrival," she continues. "I want you to have a nice time living here, so I will hold off on snail pie for tonight."

 _Living here? I don't want to_ live _here. What does she think I am, an orphan?_ Frisk thinks, surprised, as Toriel leads her to a room. "A room of your own. I hope you like it!" she says, patting Frisk's head before leaving to check on the pie. Frisk enters the room, and, seeing the bed, collapses into it, falling asleep before her head hits the pillow.


	3. Leaving Home

Waking up from what seemed like a long nap, Frisk swings her feet out of the warm blankets, shivering slightly to the cool touch of the Ruin's air. Walking forward, she bumps her foot against a plate, and bends down, catching the scent of butterscotch and cinnamon. She's not very hungry, so she puts it in her pocket, thinking it's a bit messy, but not willing to leave the food behind. _It would be rude to refuse? Right. I can't just leave it there when Toriel made it for me._ Searching the room, she finds it's decorated and filled to the brim with toys, books, and children's furniture. _Toriel must get a lot of guests, if she keeps a whole room in her house for them._

She walks out of the room into the hall, and turns left, finding another door and deciding to explore. Opening the door and walking around the room, she locates a big bed, a bookshelf, and a desk with a book, which she scans briefly with her mind's eye. It's a diary signed by Toriel, and is full of bad puns, remarkably heavy on skeleton-related topics. _Odd._

Walking back out of the room, she carefully closes the door behind her and heads down the hallway the other direction. Moving past the stairs, she pauses, then goes down into a place where the homeliness of Toriel's house gives way again to the decrepit roughness of the Ruins. Frisk hesitates, unsure about leaving the safety of, as Toriel called it, "home." Forging ahead, she casts her fear aside and heads down the dark, featureless hallway. Before she's taken her tenth step, she hears Toriel's padding footsteps, and her soft voice saying quickly "Child, I think you should play upstairs instead," as she takes Frisk's hand and leads her back.

Following Toriel upstairs and into a warmly-lit room as she sits down in a comfortable-looking armchair, she listens to Toriel read snail facts out loud and plays with a toy knife she found in the Ruins, plucking irritably at her bandages. Suddenly, she decides to ask a question;

"When can I go home?"

"What?!" Toriel's eyes open wide, shock written on her face before she relaxes and says "What do you mean? This…this _is_ your home now."

Frisk shakes her head, and asks again "How can I get out of here? I want to go home."

Even as she says this, she realizes she doesn't even remember if she _has_ a home. _Even if I don't remember, I_ must _have had a home once. I have to leave, to find it!_

Toriel ignores her, going back to reading her book aloud. More snails.

Getting a bit scared, Frisk asks one more time "How do I leave?"

Her face hardening, Toriel stands and folds her book. "…I have something to do. Stay here," before she rushes out of the room. Looking out the door, Frisk catches a glimpse of her practically leaping down the stairs to the tunnel. Following at a careful walk, she descends. As she cautiously follows Toriel, she hears the once-patient voice say coldly "You wish to know the way to return home, do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the Underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now, be a good child and go upstairs."

Frisk stands her ground, hearing Toriel's footsteps receding down the corridor. Following as they fade, she hears them pause once more, and Toriel speaks again. "Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naïve child…if you leave the Ruins…they…Asgore…will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand?"

Frisk remains motionless and silent

"…go to your room," Toriel repeats, this time with a tinge of sadness coloring her voice, before she walks away again.

When Frisk encounters her again, the sadness is gone, replaced by something akin to frustration.

"Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning," Toriel declares, as if her words are a wall beyond which nothing will protect Frisk from the dangers of the world. As she follows Toriel, they suddenly come upon a door, set in the cool shadows of a thick wall.

"You want to leave so badly? Hmph," a jaded Toriel says. "You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself…Prove to me you are strong enough to survive."

The darkroom fades into existence, and Frisk reluctantly prepares to defend herself. Unable to think of anything more to say, she draws the stick she's held since she awakened back and strikes Toriel with all her might, determination weakly sputtering in her chest. She's horrified when Toriel brings up her arm to block the blow and the bone shatters under Frisk's desperate attack. She clearly can't attack anymore without risking Toriel's life.

 _She's only trying to protect me…but she can't keep me here forever! I refuse to be locked up, even if it is for my own safety._ There's no time left for thought, as fireballs flare to life around Toriel and blast towards Frisk, snaking back and forth like lightning. Frisk takes one hit, and screams as the flames sear her skin, charring it in several places. Unwilling to give way, she braces herself and feels her determination burn white-hot.

As Toriel prepares more flames, Frisk feels her muscles tensing beneath her skin. She feels the draft from the outside on her cheeks, the pain of her wounds, the faint memory of the sunlight that streamed from the surface before she fell. As Toriel flashes wave after wave of fireballs at her, Frisk begins to dance among the snapping jaws of light and heat. A rush of exhilaration like icy water flows through her, and she allows the flames to wrap around herself, never harming her. She revels like the child she is, forgetting her injuries, forgetting Toriel, forgetting even the loss of her memory. All that she is, all that she ever was, and all that she ever will be is in her in these fleeting instants, as she spins, jumps, and slides around the licking tongues of fire cast at her. As she closes her eyes, feeling the sheer pleasure of her power, the flames die a little. As she continues to dance, her determination burns brighter and hotter, and Toriel's magic doesn't hold a candle to it. As Frisk finally comes to rest, soul glowing with joy and fearlessness, she sees Toriel looking at her with frustration. She launches another barrage, but Frisk doesn't even have to dodge. She knows it's not going to hit her. She simply looks at Toriel peacefully, but commandingly. Her will is almost palpable, and Toriel refuses to meet her eyes, simply continuing to intersperse poorly-aimed barrages of flames between despairing pleas for Frisk to go back.

Finally, she stops firing, looks at Frisk and says "I know you want to go home. But please…go upstairs now."

Frisk stands quietly, looking straight into her eyes.

"I promise I will take good care of you here," she assures, a sad smile rising to her face. "I know we do not have much, but…we can have a good life here. Please, go upstairs."

Frisk stands motionless.

"Ha ha…" she chuckles after a few moments. "Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child."

She's quiet for a bit longer, then continues. "No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations…my loneliness…my fear…for you, my child…I will put them aside."

The darkroom fades out of Frisk's view as she hears Toriel continue.

"If you truly wish to leave the Ruins, I will not stop you. However, when you leave, please do not come back. I hope you understand."

She paused a moment, then bent down and hugged Frisk's small body to herself. "Goodbye, my child," she said, and walked back into the Ruins.

As Frisk faced the door, there was no trace of doubt in her mind. She took a deep breath, stepped forward, pushed open the door into the Underground…

 _Well. That was…something. Sorry to leave you guys on this bit of a cliff-hangar, but we're finally out of the Ruins. I'm hoping to continue with a pattern of 3-5 chapters per area, with at least one of those dedicated mostly to that area's boss-fight. The Ruins are pretty small, so these chapters are a bit on the short side. By these numbers, there should be about 25k-45k words in this story by the end, if you count the True Lab). Feel free to let me know if there's anything you'd like to see more of, less of, or included in the story._


	4. Dogs and Bones

_Hi, peeps. I noticed there are some continuity errors in my first 3 chapters. Mostly they involve me switching back and forth between present and past tense. I'll be going back to fix them in a couple days. Away we go!_

Frisk takes a deep breath, steps forward, and pushes open the door into the Underground. The wind whistles, blowing chilly through her thin, striped shirt to nip at her skin. A hallway leads out into darkness, where a single yellow flower rests. _Flowey. I'm ready for you this time._ Frisk thinks, and steps out boldly into view. The flower's face twists into a wry smirk as it sees her, and begins to speak.

"Clever. Verrry clever. You think you're really smart, don't you?" he says with derision. "In this world, it's kill or be killed. So you were able to play by your own rules. You spared the life of a single person."

He chuckles with a macabre grin as his smile becomes a mirthless mask. "Hee hee hee… I bet you feel really great. You didn't kill anybody this time."

His face morphs back to his usual cheerful façade as he continues like a thought had just occurred to him. "But what will you do if you meet a relentless killer? You'll die and you'll die and you'll die. Until you tire of trying. What will you do then?"

His grin turns vicious as it did when he first attacked her. "Will you kill out of frustration? Or will you give up entirely on this world…and let _me_ inherit the power to control it? I am the prince of this world's future. Don't worry, my little monarch, my plan isn't regicide. This is _so_ much more interesting." He cackles psychotically for a moment before shriveling into the ground, leaving Frisk alone in the dark. Passing over the brightly lit patch of sunlight, Frisk moves on through the final archway of the Ruins, and into the rest of this new world. Something tells her she's only taken the first step on a long, long journey.

There's a clear, straight path through a forest, and Frisk briskly walks along it, shivering slightly in the cold. Hearing a footstep behind her, she pauses, cocking her head to listen for more…nothing. She decides it must have been her imagination, and continues, when she hears a branch crack and whirls, again finding nothing. Cautiously, she continues until reaching a bridge, where she stops, feeling an oppressive feeling on the back of her neck. Heavy, slow footsteps approach like a drum relentlessly pounding a march. Thud. Thud. Thud.

A low, gruff voice sounds.

"Human. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

A flutter of fear tries to surface, but Frisk forces it down, turning around to face the stranger behind her. He reaches out his left hand, and she takes it, only to hear a flatulent sound ring out through the forest as the tension breaks.

"Heheh…the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick," he says brightly, grinning. "It's ALWAYS funny."

His hand feels bony, without skin or flesh to give it body. His voice is completely different from the monstrous growl of only moments ago. It's almost lazy, almost as though he created his own accent just to do less work when talking. His words seem almost rounded, like his brain cut corners when it was making them.

He continues talking. "Anyways, you're a human, right? That's hilarious"

Frisk doesn't exactly see how.

"I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton," he introduces himself.

 _That's a really, really bad pun,_ thinks Frisk.

The skeleton is still chattering away. "I'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. But…y'know, I don't really care about capturing anybody. Now my brother Papyrus, he's a human-hunting _fanatic_." He pauses, then continues. "Hey, actually, I think that's him over there. I have an idea. Go through this gate thingy. Yeah, go right through. My bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone."

Sans follows Frisk over to a clearing occupied by a small shack and an oddly shaped lamp. Sans points to it and says "Quick, behind that conveniently shaped lamp." Frisk stands motionless for a motion, stunned by the absurdity of the notion, but eventually gives up and does as he asks. She hears the footsteps of another person, accompanied by the rattling of bones, and assumes Papyrus has arrived. Judging from where he's standing, he should be able to see her fine, but he ignores her completely, instead looking at Sans.

"Sup, bro?" the smaller skeleton asks in greeting.

His brother responds in a clipped, honed accent, every word seemingly sharpened and polished to absolute perfection. He also yells every single word at the top of his…ribcage. _That's weird,_ Frisk thinks. _They can talk without lungs. It must be some kind of magic._ Her thoughts are disrupted by the taller skeleton continuing to speak.

"YOU KNOW WHAT 'SUP,' BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T…RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES. YOU JUST HANG OUT AROUND YOUR STATION. WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!"

"Staring at this lamp. It's really cool. Do you wanna look?" Sans replies, totally deadpan.

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!?" Papyrus yells back, stomping his foot in frustration. "I WANT TO BE READY! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL BE THE ONE TO CAPTURE A HUMAN. THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE. RESPECT… RECOGNITION… I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, 'FRIEND?' I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING."

"Hmm. Maybe this lamp will help you," Sans suggests.

"SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"

"Hey, take it easy. I've gotten a _ton_ of work done today. A _skele_ -ton," he says, winking, as a drum sounds out of nowhere.

Frisk wonders momentarily where in the world he could have put a drum in these woods.

" _SANS!_ " Papyrus exclaims with exasperation.

"Come on. You're smiling," Sans prods.

"I AM AND I HATE IT! WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME HAVE TO WORK SO HARD JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION," his brother mourns, sighing.

"Wow, sound like you're really working yourself…down to the _bone_ ," jokes Sans once more. The drum sounds again, and again Frisk wonders how in the world he managed to hide it.

"URGH. I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES. AS FOR YOUR WORK, PUT A LITTLE MORE… _BACKBONE_ INTO IT," Papyrus quips back, before laughing uproariously and walking away.

"Ok, you can come out now," Sans assures Frisk. She walks out from behind the lamp, still wondering what the point was of hiding in the first place. She moves to continue down the path, but is stopped by Sans' voice calling out to her. "Hey, sorry to bother ya, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I was thinking…my brother's been kind of down lately. He's never seen a human before, and seeing you might just make his day. Don't worry, he's not dangerous. Even if he tries to be."

Frisk nods.

"Thanks a million. I'll be up ahead," the skeleton thanks her, before walking the exact opposite of where he said he was going to go. Frisk watches him leave, pondering his behavior. _Weird. There's something about that guy…_

Continuing on down the path, she feels her determination flare and push back the cold momentarily, then nearly trips over a box to the side of the path. Scanning a sign to one side, she decides to leave her stick in it to check if the box works the way the sign says, then pushes on through the snow. She comes across Papyrus chatting with Sans in the middle of the path, and stops in the hopes of being noticed without getting too close.

Papyrus' volume seems to have decreased to a more reasonable volume now that he isn't yelling at Sans. "So, as I was saying about Undyne…

He trails off, before turning to look at the human, turns back around as if to clear his eyes, then looks back at Frisk and exclaims. "SANS! OH MY GOD! IS THAT…A HUMAN?!"

Sans turns to look past Frisk at a large rock in the path. "Actually, I think that's a rock."

"Oh," Papyrus says, disappointedly turning to face his brother again.

"Hey, what's that in front of the rock?" Sans asks with mock confusion.

"OH MY GOD!" yells Papyrus, "(IS…IS THAT A HUMAN?)"

"(Yes)" announces Sans simply.

"OH MY GOD!" repeats Papyrus for a third time. "SANS! I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL…I'M GONNA…I'LL BE SO…POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!"

He tries to get control of himself, but can barely contain his enthusiasm as he continues. "AHEM. HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN! THEN…I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT. IN ANY CASE, CONTINUE ONLY IF YOU DARE!"

Cackling happily, he walks away yet again.

Sans remains behind. "Well, that went well. Don't sweat it, kid. I'll keep an eyesocket out for ya."

Frisk continues down the path, taking a moment to pet an odd talking dog when he pops out of another snow-covered shack. She allows his ghostly blue sword to pass through her body and slowly reaches out a hand to give him a pat, then he runs away. Talking to Sans in the next clearing, she finds out that blue weapons won't hurt her unless she moves, then walks around a frozen lake into a square area. Papyrus stands complaining to Sans about being lazy, then turns to her and explains his puzzle.

"THIS IS THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS CRAFTY MAZE, THIS ORB (He holds out a blue glowing ball that she senses is completely composed of magic.) WILL ADMINISTER A HEALTHY ZAP! SOUND LIKE FUN? BECAUSE THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL I THINK OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW."

Frisk wonders for a moment why he's still holding the shock orb, then moves forward. Lightning flashes from the orb and through Papyrus skeleton, and his eye sockets go wide. "SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"I think the human has to hold the orb," says Sans calmly

Papyrus walks through the maze, leaving footprints in the snow, and sets the orb on Frisk's head.

"HOLD THIS, PLEASE?" he asks, then walks back through the maze before telling Frisk to try again. She easily follows his footsteps along the safe path, much to Papyrus' chagrin.

"INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY…TOO EASILY! HOWEVER, THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS. YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED. I KNOW I AM!"

Cackling, Papyrus makes yet another swift exit. Frisk follows, taking a moment to kick a ball of snow around a bit. In the next area, she hears fluttering paper, and after a quick, if meaningless explanation from Papyrus, picks it up and scans it. It's a children's word search. She puts it carefully on the ground again, then walks towards Papyrus and Sans. After a quick argument about whether crosswords or jumbles are harder (In which she sympathetically sides with Papyrus), Sans thanks her and they both exit yet again.

Frisk feels another brief flare of her determination, banishing the slight signs of hypothermia and frostbite afflicting her, and continues past a table with a plate of frozen spaghetti, pausing only for a moment to read a note left by Papyrus. More of his puzzles. _How does he expect anyone to eat spaghetti that's frozen to the table?_ Frisk wonders as she advances. In the next area, she runs into a dog in armor near a switch hidden under the snow. Giving the dog a pat, and dodging its excited leaps, she presses the switch and continues onto an isolated plateau, crossing a small footbridge. On the other side, she's stopped by the sound of a pair of footsteps perfectly synchronized, almost military. They pause to each side of her, and she hears the two creatures sniffing about.

"What's that smell? (Where's that smell?) If you're a smell…(…Identify yoursmellf!)" they ask, finishing each other's sentences perfectly. They run around the plateau sniffing everywhere but Frisk, then come back to exactly where they started and muse to themselves. "Hmm…Here's that weird smell. It makes me want to eliminate. Eliminate YOU!" they finish with a vicious growl. The darkroom appears, and Frisk is greeted by the sight of a pair of large dogs in black jumpsuits. They touch noses as they wield huge battleaxes in her direction. Their eyes are wide and nearly sightless, but their keen sense of smell apparently makes up for it. Frisk rolls around in the dirt to try to mask her scent, ducking under the powerful swipes of the battleaxes. Jumping in close to the dogs, she waves her hand past their noses, trying to convince them of her little trick. They seem less interested in fighting, at least momentarily, and she pets them both as they lower their guard. Immediately convinced of her goodwill, they're quite surprised. Apparently, they thought she was a puppy after that last sniff, and they can't stop talking about it as they walk away after thanking her. In the next clearing, Frisk comes upon a strange pattern of switches on the ground, with a sign nearby. Another "Papyrus Special," clearly. The puzzle is so obvious she solves it without even reading the sign. As she continues, Papyrus intercepts her to ask a question.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU EVADED MY TRAP! MY ONLY QUESTION IS…DID YOU LEAVE ANY FOR ME?"

Frisk nods, then keeps walking. When she arrives at the next puzzle, Papyrus stands off to one side, deep in thought. When she moves to solve it, he interrupts her to explain that the puzzle is broken, and he'll be trying to fix it soon. She looks it over carefully, thinking to herself _This isn't hard. It's just different. I'll walk here…then here…and lastly…_ Stepping on the final switch, the way forward opens.

Papyrus is flabbergasted, as usual. "WOW! YOU SOLVED IT! AND WITHOUT MY HELP, TOO! INCREDIBLE! I'M IMPRESSED! YOU MUST CARE ABOUT PUZZLES LIKE I DO. WELL, I'M SURE YOU'LL LIKE THE NEXT PUZZLE, THEN! IT MIGHT EVEN BE TOO EASY FOR YOU!"

He runs out to prepare the next puzzle, followed more slowly by Frisk, who's feeling a little tired by now. Sans waits by the exit, and compliments Frisk on solving the puzzle without help. She appreciates it, but it wasn't actually that hard. Hearing Papyrus call out to her, she stops halfway across the next footbridge.

"HEY! IT'S THE HUMAN! YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS PUZZLE! IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS! YOU SEE THESE TILES? ONCE I THROW THIS SWITCH, THEY WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE COLOR."

Frisk stops listening after she hears "change color." She's not going to be able to see them, so there' s no point listening. Even so, she's confident that her determination will carry her through without a scratch. She fleetingly hears him mention something about the puzzle being completely random, then a switch clicks and there's a grinding noise as the tiles start shifting. Once they stop, she walks straight through them without any difficulty. Apparently, Papyrus was mistaken about it being random.

In the next area, she finds a dog making…something out of snow. It seems unwilling to give up, and she finds herself inspired by it, her cold and tired body coming alive with determination once again. In the next clearing, there's an ice-covered crevasse with another of Papyrus' switch puzzles laid out on it. She skates across the ice smoothly, striking each switch in turn and then sailing off through a thicket of trees on the other side. Brushing against branches, she covers herself in snow by the time she comes out the other side of the thicket.

Walking through a clearing full of little puffs of snow, she hears a dog yip twice and the sound of ice and snow cracking off of metal, then the darkroom appears, along with what appears to be a giant, humanoid dog in full battle armor, carrying a spear. She beckons it, and it walks over to her to be pet. It goes to sleep under her affectionate hands, then wakes up full of energy. She throws a snowball for it to fetch, but it splatters on the ground. The dog seems to care little, picking up all the snow and bringing it back, before going back to sleep. Continuing to pet, the dog finally rolls over, flopping back into the snow. It seems satisfied, and the darkroom vanishes. The dog hops out of its armor long enough for Frisk to realize the armor is completely mechanical, licks her, then hops back in and walks away.

Coming to a long bridge, Frisk looks listens carefully to its sounds before crossing. It seems sturdy enough, but before she's finished crossing, Papyrus voice cuts through the icy air. "HUMAN! THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!"

Out of the air around the bridge, Frisk hears the clanking of chains, the creaking of wooden beams, the crackling of flames, and…one small dog. Leaving no time for consideration, Papyrus continues his monologue. "WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EVERY PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN, SO ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN! ARE YOU READY? BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!" he ends his speech nearly screaming with excitement. Several moments pass, and Papyrus turns around, smile fading slightly. Sans pipes up. "Well? What's the holdup?"

"HOLDUP? WHAT HOLDUP? I'M…I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!" he announces, turning around.

Several more moments pass before Sans interjects again. "That, uh, doesn't look very activated."

"WELL…THIS CHALLENGE…IT SEEMS…MAYBE…TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMAN WITH. YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR, AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED, BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT. NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY IT GOES!"

Frisk hears the objects retract, chains clanking and wood straining for a second time. Papyrus declares his decisive victory, then retreats.

When Frisk follows, she's greeted by the first sounds of real civilization she's heard since falling down in the Ruins. The chattering of monsters in a shop and what seems to be a town square give the whole place a homely feel. Her determination fills her, then she enters a building and is greeted by a friendly, long eared monster who offers her a night's stay in the in for what she seems to think is a low price. Frisk agrees to pay it, then heads upstairs. She closes her eyes for the first time since leaving Toriel's home, and her exhaustion, borne by determination for so long, begins to slip away.

 _Welp. I was completely wrong about the length of these chapters. This one is at 3200 words and counting, but this seems like a good place to stop. As usual, your reviews are helpful if you feel like leaving them._


	5. A New Friend

Frisk closes her eyes for the first time since leaving Toriel's home, and her exhaustion, borne by determination for so long, begins to slip away. That is, until a loud, grunting snore from the next room over stabs her ears, and she realizes with crushing disappointment that sleep is going to elude her for a bit longer. She feels a bit better, though, as she heads downstairs and gets her money back from the friendly rabbit-eared lady at the front desk. Heading back out into the street, she nearly trips over a box in the snow. Opening it, she finds the stick she left in it earlier safe and sound. Depositing her butterscotch-cinnamon pie ( _A keepsake, from Toriel_ ) and a few other miscellaneous items she's picked up, she closes it and leaves it behind. Exploring the town, she tries to hear any sound of Papyrus or Sans, but cannot, though not for lack of effort. She asks the townsfolk about them, but only gathers that they sort of…appeared one day and asserted themselves. They seem fairly harmless, but upon some reading ( _I still don't know how I do that without seeing the pages,_ she thinks), she realizes that coming up against even a child as weak as she was by human standards was the equivalent of facing the most powerful monsters of the Underground. _Papyrus' cheery enthusiasm seems normal, in light of his ignorance, but Sans is…different. If he were actually as stupid and lazy as he wants everyone to believe, he'd fight with his brother_ way _more, and make silly puns a lot less,_ she muses, walking out of the gate at the far end of the town from where she entered only minutes before. Her reverie is interrupted by an abrupt chill, as a gust of wind blows snow across her face, muffling her hearing, but not her determination, by which she knows who is about to speak.

"Human."

Papyrus' voice is lower than usual, and more serious.

"Allow me to tell you about some complex feelings."

Frisk prepares for him to launch into some epic tale of his own feelings about joining the Royal Guard, or some such. However, this is not what he says.

"The joy of finding another pasta lover. The admiration for another's puzzle-solving skills. The desire to have a cool, smart person think you are cool. These feelings…"

 _Here it comes…his confession of friendship,_ she thinks with rising hope that she won't have to fight.

"THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW!" he finishes with a shout of exuberance.

 _Nope. Dead wrong. He must have so little practice having anyone but Sans take him seriously._

"I can hardly imagine what it must be like to feel that way," he continues in a tone that approaches normal. "After all, I am very great."

 _Aren't you lonely?_ thinks Frisk silently.

"I don't ever wonder what having lots of friends is like. I pity you…lonely human…"

 _Don't you pity yourself, too?_ wonders Frisk, even as her heart is pricked by his warmhearted sympathy.

" WORRY NOT! YOU SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE YOUR— "his voice falters mid-yell. "No…NO, THIS IS ALL WRONG!" he shouts with dismay. "I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND! YOU ARE A HUMAN! I MUST CAPTURE YOU! THEN, I CAN FULFILL MY LIFELONG DREAM!"

"POWERFUL!" he yells

"POPULAR!" he shouts

"PRESTIGIOUS!" he exults

"THAT'S PAPYRUS!" he declares with finality. "THE NEWEST MEMBER…OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"

The darkroom appears, and Papyrus cockily grinning skull and permanently raised eyebrow face her, blocking her way.

She decides to try to convince him to be friends. "Do you want to go hang out sometime?" she inquires innocently.

As she should have expected, he completely misunderstands. "WHAT? FL-FLIRTING?" he stammers. Back to his old self quickly, he follows up. "SO YOU FINALLY REVEAL YOUR ULTIMATE FEELINGS. W-WELL! I'M A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS!"

Frisk resists the urge to bury her head in her hands, and decides to roll with the conversation. "I can make spaghetti," she says simply.

"OH, NO!" he exclaims. "YOU'RE MEETING ALL MY STANDARDS! I GUESS THIS MEANS I HAVE TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU."

He hesitates momentarily. "LET'S DATE L-LATER. AFTER I CAPTURE YOU," he accedes, then sends magic bones flying along the ground towards Frisk. She easily sidesteps them.

She decides to try some reverse psychology. "That outfit looks stupid!" she announces, feeling guiltier with every word. He takes it the opposite of how she apparently intended, exactly as she planned.

"HOW SELFLESS…YOU WANT ME TO FEEL BETTER ABOUT FIGHTING YOU. I DON'T DESERVE SUCH HOSPITALITY FROM YOU!" he practically wails. He starts primping in-between his attacks, which Frisk keeps dodging. She chooses to keep silent and let his doubts work while she amuses herself jumping over the bones he's launching every few seconds.

He realizes what she's doing almost immediately. "SO YOU WON'T FIGHT…THEN, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE MY FABLED 'BLUE ATTACK'," he speculates with his typical vigor. She stands still, and the blue bones pass through her without harm. Suddenly, she feels a strange weight in her chest pulling her toward the ground. Looking down, her SOUL is a melancholy blue. The weight allows her to stand, albeit with difficulty, but jumping is going to be an issue.

"YOU'RE BLUE NOW. THAT'S MY ATTACK!" states Papyrus proudly, like he's talking about how his little bony son just won a basketball game. He then ruins the effect by cackling with his signature "NYEH HEH HEH!"

 _I can handle this. It's just going to be a little tougher than I thought,_ Frisk strategizes. _All I have to do is hold out until he runs out of magic. That happens, right?_

She continues not fighting, and her determination flares, giving her a boost of strength. He launches a couple of low attacks, gauging her strength. Her determination flashes brightly inside her, and she easily leaps them. He follows up with some higher attacks, which she handily avoids. She's still strategizing and studying his power with every move _. His power gets stronger when I jump higher, so lower jumps are easier. At the same time, I can only fall so fast, so if he launches a high attack and then a low one, or vice verzsa, it might be tricky to dodge._

As Papyrus interjects every little while, she thinks more. _He keeps telling me he's not thinking about the date, but that's just proof he is. This is working!_ she celebrates silently. She pays for the lapse dearly, however, as a pair of large bones connect with her ribs, and she feels them break, almost piercing her lungs. _It hurts to move. How am I supposed to keep going like this…_ she remembers the ice cream she bought at the shop in town. She tears off its packaging and swallows it whole. Immediately, magic floods her body, healing some of the damage. _Should've guessed. Magic monsters equals magic food. Nice to know determination isn't the only thing I've got._

Moving more cautiously now that she's felt firsthand, Frisk continues dodging Papyrus' attacks. Even as he fights, he keeps calling out tips for how her side of the fight is supposed to work. He's still as confident as ever. Frisk starts to get a little irritated, but determination flares and she starts to enjoy herself. _It's totally different from when I was fighting Toriel. This feels almost like…fun. That was just me ignoring her and pleasing myself. This is a real competition. I think it's because he's actually trying to hurt me!_ she thinks excitedly. With this realization, she begins to truly test her limits, waiting until the last second to jump, or just barely clearing the top of a bone. The turbulence following them blows her dark brown hair back, and the icy chill bites at her face.

As she flips, rolls, and jumps, Papyrus' attacks get more elaborate. He begins to send in combinations of attacks, high and low, left and right. After getting clipped by a bone from behind, Frisk starts incorporating midair twists into her routine, practically flying around the bones. She's struck by a blue magic attack in mid-spin, and falls to the ground, contorted by an electric shock. She again rises, and starts freezing long enough for the blue bones to pass, then flashing out of the way of the solid physical ones. As he begins to send out long strings of bone attacks, she has to jump higher and higher. Fueled by determination, she makes one great, titanic leap…and is smacked out of the air as the bone moves to target. Eating another ice-cream, she's back in the fray like lightning. Papyrus talks to himself, arguing about whether to be friends with Frisk or not, and about how rare true admirers are. Dismissing those thoughts with frustration, he snaps at Frisk in anger for the first time.

"URGH…JUST GIVE UP!"

Frisk makes no response, but keeps dodging his attacks with relative ease. Determination burns in her veins, unwilling to be put out. _I_ will _escape from the Underground! I_ will _find my memories!_

Papyrus gathers energy, and his attacks weaken for a moment. "BEHOLD! MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" he declares, and reaches out his hand. All that appears, however, is a dog chewing a bone. He's understandably confused. "WHAT THE HECK! THAT'S MY SPECIAL ATTACK! HEY, YOU STUPID DOG! DO YOU HEAR ME?! STOP MUNCHING ON THAT BONE!"

The dog ignores him, and he yells after it with dismay. "COME BACK HERE WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"

"…I SUPPOSE I'LL JUST USE A REALLY COOL REGULAR ATTACK!" he decides conclusively, and gathers his strength once more. Frisk appreciates the short rest, then readies herself. As he launches the attack, she makes a colossal leap once more, clearing the titanic bone he summoned, then crashes back to earth. Her legs tremble, and she falls to her knees, before shakily rising to her feet once more. Papyrus breathes heavily ( _Still odd for a skeleton to breathe,_ Frisk thinks again), then yells between breaths.

"WELL…. IT'S CLEAR…YOU CAN'T…DEFEAT ME! YEAH, I CAN SEE YOU SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS! THEREFORE, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO GRANT YOU PITY! I WILL SPARE YOU, HUMAN! NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO ACCEPT MY MERCY."

 _Finally,_ breaths Frisk under her breath. _That was a lot harder than I thought it'd be. I didn't have to kill him, though. There's one more person that stupid flower was wrong about._

She looks Papyrus right in his face, or lack thereof, and nods with finality. The darkroom disappears, and Frisk's vision fades to black once more. Papyrus laughs sheepishly. "I can't even stop someone as weak as you…Undyne's going to be disappointed in me. I'll never join the Royal Guard, and my friend quantity will remain stagnant!"

This is the moment she's been waiting for this whole time. "Papyrus?" she asks.

He turns around slowly, and looks at her.

"Let's be friends."

His mood immediately turns cheery once more. "REALLY! YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS…WITH ME? WELL THEN…I GUESS…I GUESS I CAN MAKE AN ALLOWANCE FOR YOU! WOWIE! WE HAVEN'T EVEN HAD OUR FIRST DATE, AND I'VE ALREADY MANAGED TO HIT THE FRIEND ZONE!"

Frisk can't help but giggle inwardly at his antics.

He continues. " WHO KNEW ALL I NEEDED TO MAKE NEW PALS WAS TO GIVE PEOPLE AWFUL PUZZLES AND THEN FIGHT THEM? YOU TAUGHT ME A LOT, HUMAN."

She curtsies with perfect comedic timing.

"I HEREBY GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO PASS THROUGH, AND I'LL GIVE YOU DIRECTIONS TO THE SURFACE. CONTINUE FORWARD UNTIL YOU REACH THE END OF THE CAVERN. THEN, WHEN YOU REACH THE CAPITAL, CROSS THE BARRIER. THAT'S THE MAGICAL SEAL TRAPPING US ALL UNDERGROUND. ANYTHING CAN ENTER THROUGH IT, BUT NOTHING CAN EXIT…EXCEPT SOMEONE WITH A POWERFUL SOUL, LIKE YOU! THAT'S WHY THE KING WANTS TO ACQUIRE A HUMAN. HE WANTS TO OPEN THE BARRIER WITH SOUL POWER. THEN, US MONSTERS CAN RETURN TO THE SURFACE."

 _This doesn't sound good,_ thinks Frisk to herself. _The king himself wants my SOUL. I wonder if he's ASGORE. It doesn't sound much like a name for a person, though neither does Papyrus._

Papyrus' next words cut through her absentmindedness. "OH, I ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL YOU…TO REACH THE EXIT, YOU WILL HAVE TO PASS THROUGH THE KING'S CASTLE. THE KING OF ALL MONSTERS…HE IS…"

As Papyrus pauses, Frisk begins to think the worst. _What's so horrible that Papyrus can't even say it. Is the king really that dangerous?_

"WELL…HE'S A BIG FUZZY PUSHOVER!" Papyrus finishes. "EVERYBODY LOVES THAT GUY. I'M SURE IF YOU JUST SAY 'EXCUSE ME, MR. DREEMURR…CAN I PLEASE GO HOME?' HE'LL GUIDE YOU RIGHT TO THE BARRIER HIMSELF!"

 _Oh. That doesn't sound so bad. Knowing Papyrus, though, he's probably exaggerating,_ she revises.

"ANYWAY, THAT'S ENOUGH TALKING! I'LL BE AT HOME BEING A COOL FRIEND! FEEL FREE TO COME BY AND HAVE THAT DATE." Giving his signature cackle, Papyrus made a typically swift exit back towards town. Trailing behind, Frisk made a beeline for the inn, where her determination flashed, she entered, and made use of the bed. Even the snores of her neighbors couldn't keep her awake this time, and she fell deeply asleep, closing her eyes and drifting off peacefully.


	6. A Date with a Skeleton

_Hello again, readers. This next chapter is pure fluff, and only included because it's part of the Pacifist route. If you'd like to skip it and move on/wait for the next chapter, that's totally cool. Just figured I'd give you folks a heads up. I'm planning on publishing the first chapter of my Genocide story, DETERMINATION, on Tuesday, so the next chapter of this story may not be here until Thursday._

 _Gaster out._

Trailing behind Papyrus, Frisk makes a beeline for the inn, where her determination flashes before she enters to make use of the bed. Even the snores of her neighbors can't keep her awake this time, and she falls deeply asleep, closing her eyes and drifting off peacefully. Waking up refreshed, she heads back downstairs and checks with the front desk, only to find that yet again, she spent only minutes in the room. Apparently, determination is good for more than just fighting. Heading outside again, she nearly bumps into Papyrus on her way to check on the door of the only unoccupied house in the village. He greets her cheerily, almost as if he's been waiting for her the whole time…which he probably has, on second thought. "SO YOU CAME BACK TO HAVE A DATE WITH ME! YOU MUST BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS…I'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE REALLY SPECIAL…A PLACE I LIKE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME!"

He leads her around the town, and she follows the sound of his footsteps on a long, roundabout path…straight back to his house. He heads inside quickly, clearly expecting Frisk to follow. She hears the rattle of bones at one end of the room, where he stands quietly, seemingly to let her take it all in. As she explores, he explains what everything is, and what it does. As she looks under the sink, the dog that stole Papyrus' "Special Attack" is revealed, but escapes out the front door before she or Papyrus can catch it.

"CURSES!" swears Papyrus. Sans pops out from behind a door that seems to have flames coming through the cracks, and plays a few morose notes on a trombone. Papyrus is not amused.

"SANS! STOP PLAGUEING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!" he yells, irritated. He and Frisk vacate the kitchen, and Frisk finds a book on the end-table next to the sofa. Opening it and scanning the pages, she finds it's a complex joke about quantum physics. That is, it's a quantum physics book inside joke book inside a quantum physics book inside a joke book, etc. Clearly, Sans is capable of doing some interesting things to reality. Ignoring the rest of the living room, Frisk walks up to a closed upstairs door and cocks her head questioningly.

" THAT'S MY ROOM. IF YOU'VE FINISHED LOOKING AROUND, WE COULD GO IN AND…DO WHATEVER PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY DATE?"

Frisk nods, and Papyrus leads her inside. "SO, UM….IF YOU'VE SEEN EVERYTHING…DO YOU WANT TO START THE DATE?"

Frisk nods again, and Papyrus grins. "OKAY! DATING…START!"

The darkroom appears, along with a mildly nervous Papyrus. He explains quickly that he's never done this before. "BUT DON'T WORRY! YOU CAN'T SPELL 'PREPARED' WITHOUT SEVERAL LETTERS FROM MY NAME! I SNAGGED AN OFFICIAL DATING RULEBOOK FROM THE LIBRARY! WE'RE READY TO HAVE A GREAT TIME!"

Frisk tries to suppress her laughter. _Official dating rulebook?! That's really hilarious. He has no idea what he's doing! Of course, neither do I, but…never mind. This is turning out to be more fun than I thought it'd be_.

Papyrus holds the rulebook up to his face, and peers at it closely. "STEP ONE… PRESS THE [ C ] KEY ON YOUR KEYBOARD FOR 'DATING HUD.'"

Frisk presses an imaginary [C] key on an imaginary keyboard, and an imaginary dating HUD appears. Papyrus is suitably impressed. "WOWIE! I FEEL SO INFORMED! I THINK WE'RE READY FOR STEP TWO! STEP TWO…ASK THEM ON A…(didn't we already do this part?)…DATE. HUMAN. I, PAPYRUS WILL GO ON A DATE WITH YOU," he declares happily. Frisk nods in response "R-REALLY? WOWIE! I GUESS THAT MEANS IT'S TIME FOR PART THREE. STEP THREE…PUT ON NICE CLOTHES TO SHOW YOU CARE." He pauses for a moment. "WAIT A SECOND. WEAR CLOTHING…. THAT BANDAGE HANGING OFF OF YOU. YOU'RE WEARING CLOTHING RIGHT NOW!" he announces, shocked.

Frisk looks down at her arm, where Flowey's blades had cut her when she first fell. Apparently, Toriel had bandaged it while she was asleep. She hadn't needed it, since determination had healed it before she ever got to Toriel's home, but it _was_ a nice gesture.

Papyrus has been talking the whole time. "NOT ONLY THAT…EARLIER TODAY, YOU WERE ALSO WEARING CLOTHING! NO…COULD IT BE? YOU'VE WANTED TO DATE ME FROM THE VERY BEGINNING?!"

Frisk shakes her head, but Papyrus will not be disappointed. "DESPITE THAT, YOU STILL CHOSE TO WEAR CLOTHING TODAY. WAS YOUR INTEREST IN ME…PREDESTINED?! N- NOOOO! YOUR 'DATING POWER'…!"

Frisk's determination flares as the tension rises. "DON'T THINK YOU'VE BESTED ME YET! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE NEVER BEENE BEATEN AT DATING, AND I NEVER WILL. I CAN EASILY KEEP UP WITH YOU! YOU SEE, I, TOO, CAN WEAR CLOTHING. IN FACT, I ALWAYS WEAR MY 'SPECIAL' CLOTHES UNDERNEATH MY REGULAR CLOTHES, JUST IN CASE SOMEBODY HAPPENS TO ASK ME ON A DATE! BEHOLD! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY SECRET STYLE?" he asks, flashing out of the room and back in with a shirt that says "cool dude" and a backwards baseball cap.

Frisk, barely containing her giggles at the sight of his outrageous outfit, responds enthusiastically "I love it!"

His dismay is clear. "OH, NO! A GENUINE COMPLIMENT…! HOWEVER, YOU DON'T TRULY UNDERSTAND THE HIDDEN POWER OF THIS OUTFIT! THEREFORE, WHAT YOU JUST SAID IS INVALID! THIS DATE WON'T ESCALATE ANY FURTHER…UNLESS YOU FIND MY SECRET! BUT THAT WON'T HAPPEN!"

He stands straight, proud, and confident that she'll never guess his secret. On her first guess, she points to his hat. As Papyrus stammers, it slowly rises up to reveal a small package wrapped in paper and tied neatly with a ribbon.

"MY HAT? MY HAT…MY HAT! W- WELL THEN…YOU FOUND MY SECRET! I SUPPOSE I HAVE NO CHOICE! IT'S A PRESENT J- JUST FOR YOU!"

The wrapping paper and ribbon disappear to reveal a lump of pasta noodles clumped on top of his skull.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?" Papyrus asks, clearly expecting Frisk to know immediately.

She nods, and says "Spaghetti."

"SPAGGETTI. RIGHT! BUT OH-SO WRONG. THIS IS AN ARTISAN'S WORK! SILKEN SPAGHETTI, FINELY AGED IN AN OAKEN CASK, THEN COOKED BY ME, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS. HUMAN! IT'S TIME TO END THIS! THERE'S NO WAY THIS CAN GO ANY FURTHER!" he retorts, then holds out the spaghetti for Frisk to try. She tentatively takes a bite, and her face reflexively scrunches up. _This taste is…indescribable…_ she thinks. Papyrus interprets this expression optimistically, as usual.

"WHAT A PASSIONATE EXPRESSION! YOU MUST REALLY LOVE MY COOKING, AND BY EXTENSION, ME! MAYBE EVEN MORE THAN ME."

Frisk's determination flares to its highest, and the world goes white as Papyrus continues.

"HUMAN. IT'S CLEAR NOW. YOU'RE MADLY IN LOVE WITH ME. EVERYTHING YOU DO, EVERYTHING YOU SAY. IT'S ALL BEEN FOR MY SAKE. HUMAN. I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY, TOO. IT'S TIME FOR ME TO EXPRESS MY FEELINGS"

Frisk readies herself for an incredibly self-centered declaration of his love, or something along those lines.

"IT'S TIME THAT I TOLD YOU. I, PAPYRUS…I…UM…" he trails off. Finding his hesitation unusual, Frisk's determination fades slightly, and the darkroom comes back into view.

"BOY, IS IT HOT IN HERE, OR IS IT JUST ME?" he pauses again.

"OH, SHOOT. I…HUMAN…I'M SORRY. I DON'T LIKE YOU THE WAY YOU LIKE ME. ROMANTICALLY, I MEAN. I MEAN, I TRIED VERY HARD TO! I THOUGHT BECAUSE YOU FLIRTED WITH MY, THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU. THEN, ON THE DATE, FEELINGS WOULD BLOSSOM FORTH! I WOULD BE ABLE TO MATCH YOUR PASSION FOR ME! BUT ALAS, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS…HAVE FAILED. I FEEL JUST THE SAME AS BEFORE. AND INSTEAD, BY DATING YOU, I HAVE ONLY DRAWN YOU DEEPER INTO YOUR INTENSE LOVE FOR ME! A DARK PRISON OF PASSION, WITH NO ESCAPE. HOW COULD I HAVE DONE THIS TO MY DEAR FRIEND…? NO! WAIT! THAT'S WRONG! I CAN'T FAIL AT ANYTHING! HUMAN! I'LL HELP YOU THROUGH THESE TRYING TIMES! I'LL KEEP BEING YOUR COOL FRIEND AND ACT LIKE THIS ALL NEVER HAPPENED. AFTER ALL, YOU ARE VERY GREAT. IT WOULD BE TRAGIC TO LOSE YOUR FRIENDSHIP. SO PLEASE…DON'T CRY BECAUSE I WON'T KISS YOU. BECAUSE, I DON'T EVEN HAVE LIPS. AND HEY, SOMEDAY, YOU'LL FIND SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME. WELL, NO. THAT'S NOT TRUE. BUT I'LL HELP YOU SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST!"

He ends his long soliloquy with typical childish ego, jets out of the room, and then pokes his head back in. "OH, AND IF YOU EVER NEED TO REACH ME…HERE'S MY PHONE NUMBER," he says, handing her a slip of paper. "YOU CAN CALL ME ANY TIME! PLATONICALLY. WELL, GOTTA GO," he says, giving his signature cackle and making his signature swift exit. Frisk heads outside, relieved that she's managed to befriend him without his misperceptions getting in the way too much. Figuring there's not much left to do, she walks out the east gate of the town, and moves on into the shadowed depths of the Underground, far from the solitary rays of sunshine that dot the Ruins and the cold of Snowdin. One name rings in her mind as she walks. _Undyne…_


	7. The Knight in the Shadows

Figuring there's not much left to do in Snowdin, Frisk heads out the east gate of the town and moves on into the shadowed, cool depths of the Underground, far from the warm rays of sunshine dotting the Ruins and the cold winds blowing across Snowdin. One name rings in her mind as she walks. _Undyne…_

The river's rushing echoes around the close walls, running a dark, almost black color in the dim light of the narrowing caverns. It widens abruptly, and she hears the sounds of numerous monsters scattered throughout the space. Hearing a familiar voice, she curiously thinks to herself. _Is that…?_

Approaching closer, her suspicion is confirmed. It's Sans, snow-covered sentry booth and all. Ignoring the other monsters, she heads straight for him, an inquisitive look on her face. When she arrives, she cocks her head to the side in question. Sans, in a course of action completely opposite his brother, understands her perfectly.

"What? Haven't you seen a guy with two jobs before?" he replies with amusement. "Fortunately twice as many jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks. I'm going to Grillby's. Wanna come?" he asks.

Frisk nods, and he leaves the booth, heads the wrong way…and they arrive at Grillby's. _That's definitely_ not _normal,_ she thinks, startled. "Fast shortcut, huh?" he teases, points of light twinkling in his eye sockets. Deciding not to pry, she listens to the sounds of the building. The dogs are playing cards in the corner, and a handful of other assorted monsters sit around the booths. Grillby stands cleaning a glass behind the bar, his head floating in the flames rising from his body. Sans greets the crowd, then takes a seat on a barstool. Frisk follows his lead, taking a seat next to him. A fart rings out as she sits, and Sans innocently turns to her. "Whoops, watch where you sit. Sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats. Anyway, let's order. Whaddya want?"

Frisk decides she doesn't want to hold things up too much. "Fries would be great."

Sans nods with enthusiasm, turning back to face the bar. "Hey, that sounds pretty good. Grillby, we'll have a double order of fries." Grillby heads to the back, and Sans looks over at Frisk. "So, what do you think of my brother."

Not wanting to offend, Frisk makes as honest an answer as she can. "He's pretty cool."

"Of course he's cool," Sans returns, smirking. "You'd be cool too if you wore that outfit every day. He'd only take that thing off if he absolutely had to. Oh, well. At least he washes it. And by that, I mean he wears it in the shower."

Grillby comes in from the back, carrying two orders of fries, and sets them down in front of Sans and Frisk. "Here comes the grub," announces Sans, then continues. "Want some ketchup?" he asks, holding out a bottle. Anticipating another prank, Frisk shakes her head. "More for me," he says with a wink, before he drinks the whole bottle. "Anyway, cool or not, you have to agree Papyrus tries real hard. Like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard. One day, he went to the house of the head of the royal guard and begged her to let him be in it. Of course, she shut the door on him because it was midnight, but the next day, she woke up and saw him still waiting there. Seeing his dedication, she decided to give him warrior training. It's ah, still a work in progress."

 _I can imagine,_ ruminates Frisk. _He seems like he has a lot of untapped power._

"Oh, yeah," he says suddenly, as if remembering something. "There was something I wanted to ask you. Have you ever heard of a talking flower?"

Her blood runs like ice for a moment as a chill traces her spine. _He can't mean…_

"Yes, I have," she affirms.

"So you know all about it. The Echo Flower," he says. Taken aback, Frisk waits for him to continue. _I remember, someone back in the cavern was talking about Echo Flowers. If the name is anything to go by, I have a pretty good idea of what they do._

Sans hasn't stopped talking "They're all over the marsh. Say something to them, and they'll repeat it over and over…what about it?" he says, as he notices Frisk's inquisitive look. "Well, Papyrus told me something interesting the other day. Sometimes, when no one else is around, a flower appears and whispers things to him. Flattery, advice, encouragement…predictions. Weird, huh?"

Frisk nods. _Definitely weird…but is it an Echo Flower or Flowey? And either way, what could anyone want with Papyrus,_ she muses as Sans continues. "Someone must be using an echo flower to play a trick on him. Keep an eye out, ok?"

Frisk nods, and Sans lets out a little sigh of relief. "Thanks."

He straightens up, stands, and turns to leave. "Welp, that was a long break. I can't believe I let ya pull me away from work for that long. Oh, by the way…I'm flat broke. Can you foot the bill? It's just ten thousand gold."

Frisk hesitates, then nods. She'll figure it out, somehow. Sans has other plans, however.

"Just kidding," he says. "Grillby, put it on my tab," he calls to the bartender, then starts walking out. "By the way…I was going to say something, but I forgot." He walks out the door, leaving Frisk a little confused. _That's not how a tab is supposed to work…_

Making her way back into the caverns, she bypasses Sans sentry post, and wades through a broad, shallow waterfall, dodging chunks of ice that flow down from Snowdin. As she walks further into the darkness, the light of Snowdin casts a long shadow on the floor in front of her. She pushes her way through a clump of tall grass, stopping when she hears a familiar voice from above.

"H…HI, UNDYNE! I'M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT…UHHH…REGARDING THAT HUMAN I CALLED YOU ABOUT EARLIER…" shouts Papyrus, his usual enthusiasm muted.

A quieter voice, filled with gravel and menace, sounds. It's too quiet to make out, but it's clearly Undyne's.

"…HUH? DID I FIGHT THEM? Y- YES! OF COURSE I DID! I FOUGHT THEM VALIANTLY!"

More of that low, grating voice…

"…WHAT? DID I CAPTURE THEM…? W- W- WELL…NO. I TRIED VERY HARD, UNDYNE, BUT IN THE END…I FAILED."

Undyne sounds irked, but finishes with a fierce, almost _determined_ growl.

"…W-WHAT? YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THE HUMAN'S SOUL YOURSELF…"

There's a short, quick response.

"…BUT UNDYNE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DESTROY THEM! YOU SEE…YOU SEE…"

Undyne snaps back at him sharply.

"…I UNDERSTAND. I'LL HELP YOU IN ANY WAY I CAN," Papyrus says, cowed, then leaves, walking more slowly than usual.

Frisk pauses, listening for the sound of another set of footsteps leaving, but is disappointed by silence. Choosing to continue forward and hope to be ignored, she begins moving through the grass once more. Dry and stiff, it crackles noisily, and Frisk hears armored boots clanking above. A humming, powerful sound fills the air, and she braces herself for the painful touch of a powerful magic attack. Holding perfectly still, she hopes not to be found, and after a few interminable seconds, the humming vanishes and the boots clank away. Letting out a sigh of relief, she continues on her way. The grass rustles behind her, and a light-footed patter echoes off the walls.

"Yo…did you see the way she was staring at you…? That…was AWESOME! I'm SOOOO jealous! What'd you do to get her attention…? Haha, let's go watch her beat up some bad guys!"

The young monster's pattering footsteps continue past her, before a skid and a _thud_ as it apparently trips, then gets up and keeps running. A feeling of dread hangs over Frisk…but she stays determined, sparks of light flashing inside her mind. Somehow, she feels like she can make out tiny points of light…but maybe it's just her imagination. She continues into the next room, and scans a sign. "When four Bridge Seeds align in the water, they will sprout."

 _That seems straightforward_. Placing the seeds in the water, she steps out as they link into a frail but stable bridge. She's interrupted by the appearance of the darkroom as a muscular monster with the face of a horse and a long, snakelike tail flexes in. She decides to see if she can get it to leave by appeasing it, and rolls up her sleeves. She flexes her small arms, and the monster seems pleased, as it flexes back hard. She flexes harder, and it compliments her. "Nice. I won't lose, though!" Flexing with all her strength, the monster flexes one last time, and…flexes himself out of the room. _Well. That was…very strange,_ she thinks as she continues, using Bridge Seeds to easily navigate the rest of the room. Near the end, her phone rings.

"HELLO! THIS IS PAPYRUS! HOW DID I GET THIS NUMBER…? IT WAS EASY! I JUST DIALED EVERY NUMBER SEQUENTIALLY UNTIL I GOT YOURS! SO…WHAT ARE YOU WEARING. I'M…ASKING FOR A FRIEND."

 _For Undyne, you mean,_ she thinks.

"SHE THOUGHT SHE SAW YOU WEARING A GROSS BANDAGE. IS THAT TRUE? ARE YOU WEARING A GROSS BANDAGE?"

 _Seriously, why is the only thing anybody notices the bandage. I'm wearing a freaking_ striped shirt _and_ pants. _And why is he calling it a_ gross _bandage. Jeez…_ "Yes," she says. _I can just take it off, you know…not that I'm going to bother. Better to meet this 'Undyne' character head on._

"SO YOU _ARE_ WEARING A GROSS BANDAGE. GOT IT! WINK WINK! HAVE A NICE DAY!

Walking through a narrow tunnel, Frisk hears the Echo Flowers whispering their endless repetitions over and over. Coming to a dead end, she touches her hand to it…and the carefully-painted canvas falls to the floor, revealing a jagged-edged doorway. Stepping out onto a boardwalk, she passes several signs and feels the texture of the floor change, before the platform begins to move under her feet. Feeling around the edge, she can't find any railing or other platforms within reach, so she sits and waits for it to stop. Eventually, there's a _clunk_ , and she continues onto another boardwalk. As she heads forward into the darkness, there's a humming, and then a blast of concentrated magical energy punches a hole in the boards of the path. Barely an inch in front of her, the energy buzzes, then fades. Hearing the clanking of armored boots to her left, she begins to run, barely managing to avoid the bolts of energy while staying on the path. Eventually, she runs out of boards and collapses into tall grass as it crackles beneath her. Scrambling deeper into hiding, she waits for Undyne to approach. The spears of light stop flying, and the only sound left is the clashing of armor as Undyne, metal faceplate shadowed and menacing, stomps into the grass. Stopping only feet from Frisk's hiding place, the armored hand rises, reaches out…and picks up the childish monster hiding next to Frisk. Letting out a disappointed growl, Undyne turns around, dropping the monster and stalking off. Letting out a sigh of relief, Frisk walks out of the grass onto solid ground, followed swiftly by the positively bubbling monster kid.

"Yo…" he says. "Did you see that?! Undyne just…TOUCHED ME! I'm never washing my face ever again…! Man, are you unlucky. If you were standing just a _little_ bit to the left…"

Frisk let out a slight shiver as the monster continued. "Yo, don't worry! I'm sure we'll see her again!"

His pattering footsteps ran ahead, stopped with a _thud_ as he tripped, then continued out of the room. As Frisk continued, following at a slower pace, she found a strangely placed table with a crystal on it. Oddly, there was a scent of cheese emanating from it. Knowing the mouse squeaking in a hole near the table might one day free the cheese from the crystal gave her a surge of inspiration, and fresh determination flashed in her soul. Sitting down for a moment, she closed her eyes and drifted off for a brief nap…

 _Phew. There we go. I know I said I'd get this to y'all yesterday, but writer's block is a mofo. I'll try to do better in the future. I was hoping to get all the way to the Undyne battle in this chapter, but I figured I'd give this to you folks now.  
_


	8. Permanant Hiatus

NOTICE OF DISCONTINUATION:

My apologies, dear readers. I find I've lost interest in writing Undertale fanfiction, and so will not be posting any more chapters to this story. If you're interested in adopting it, feel free to PM me and I'll send you the documents.


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